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B. T. E. E. STARR.

SECONDARY BATTERY.

Patented Nov. 2 1888 WITNESSES r! sl r 16 m T 1 l 881 By til 6 p'rAttorney u. wanna mmnmmww. Wnhkvglan. QC

. UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELI T. STARR AND E. EUGENE STARR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PA., ASSIGNOHS OFONEHALF TO WILLIAM J. PEYTON, OF.WASHINGTON, 'D. C.

SECONDARY BATTERY SPECIFICATION forming part ofLetters Patent No.268,308, dated November 28, 1882, Application filed October 6, 1882. (Nomodel.)

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be itknown that we, ELI T. STARR. and E. EUGENE STARR, both of the cityand county of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania,

have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements in Secondaryor Storage Batteries, of which the following is a specification.

Ourinvention relates to the class of batteries for producing orgenerating electricity known 7 10 as secondary or storage batteries.These batteries are charged or put into condition for generatingelectric currents by the'action of a current of electricity evolved by agenerator and caused to flow through the battery, the

l 5 work of the charging-current being recovered, when desired, byconnecting the electrodes of the battery by an electric conductor.

The object of our present invention is to provide an improved secondaryor storage battery,

and to render more economical, certain, and efl'ective the resultssought to be accomplished by such batteries.

The subject-matter claimed is particularly pointed out at the close ofthe specification.

2 5 It is to be understood that some of our present improvements may beused without the others, and in batteries differing from thatparticularly shown in the accompanying drawings, which drawings show allour said im- 0 provements as embodied in one battery in the bestwayknown to us at the date of filing our application of December 31,1881. This pres- ,ent application is a division of our said applicationof December 31, 1881, and is restricted to the claims particularlyrecited atthe close of this specification. We disclaim herein all otherparts of our invention described orsubstantially indicated in this casein favor of our said application of 1881.

40 Figure 1 is a vertical central section through the improved secondaryor storage battery, and Fig.2 is a horizontal section therethrou'gh onthe line 00 0c of Fig. 1.

The body of the vessel or box A of the bat- 5 tery is constructedpreferably of the oblongrectangular shape shown in the drawings,and ofmaterial which is a non-conductor of electricity, such as glass, hardrubber, or guttapercha. When the vessel A is so constructed wepreferably strengthen it bya surrounding 5o casing or envelope of somestout material in order to give support to the vessel and protect itduring transportation. The open end or top of the vessel A is providedwith a closely-fitting non conducting lid or cover, a, and be- 5 tweenthe edges of said vessel and said lid or cover we interpose a packingmaterial, a. The lid or cover is fastened securely and tightly in place,so to make the chamber of the vessel or box air-tight, and this is doneby means of suitable fastening devices, shown as consisting in thisexample of screws a passingdown through thelid or cover into the wallsor sides of the body of the vessel. By making the battery vesselair-tight greater ease and safetyin hand- 6 ling is permitted, amongother advantages.

Within the air-tight chamber of the vessel or box' are arranged thepositive and negative elements or electrodes of the battery, togetherwith the substancelau electrolytic fluid, usu- 7o ally acidulated water)to be acted upon by the charging-current in order to place the batteryin condition to generate electricity when the poles or electrodes of thebattery are connected in circuit by a conductor.

The electrodes preferabl y consist of lead plates B, the positive andnegativeplates being preferably respectively of different thickness orsize; or the positive and negative plates may be of different metal-as,for example, the positive plates may be of lead and the negative platesof palladium. We prefer to con- Was of greater thickness than thenegative plates, in orderto enable the positive plates to withstand thecontortions or 8 5 changes of shape to which they are especially liableto undergo during the formation of the battery. Theincreased durabilityand strength of the positive plates may be imparted to them i. invarious ways. The plates B in both the positive and negative series weprefer to be in the form of sieves or with holes or depressions madetherein. If thin plates are used as the electrodes, they may be indentedor depressed by a pointed tool, so as merely to stretch the 5 metalwithout completely perforating it. We prefer, however, this sieve orperforated form of plate, as it affords greater surface to receive thematerial with which the plate is coated or supplied, and which is to beaffected by the charging-current through the decomposition of theelectrolytic liquid of the cell. We prefer also to provide thebattery-plates with recesses or receptacles for the reception of theaforesaid material, which is usually porous when active, and theserecesses are clearly shown in Fig. 1, being formed by the walls of theprojections [1 through which the openings or perforations of the plateare made. means of said recesses between the perforated projections theporous active material is more securely held to and supported upon theplate, and a larger amount of said material may be applied to the plateto be effectively acted upon or affected by the charging-current than itthe plate had plain sides orwere simply per forated, which constructionis highly advantageous in thatit secures greater capacity with the sameweight of battery for the accumulation or storage of the energy of thechargingcurrent. This porous material, or material to be made porous oractive, may be red oxide of lead, peroxide of lead, sulphate of lead,peroxide of manganese, or any equivalent thereof, moistened with dilutesulphuric acid or with a salt in solution, (which does not chemicallyaffect the oxides,) or any equivalent thereof, in order to form a paste.This paste so prepared, or the equivalent thereof, is thoroughly mixedor incorporated with fibers or fibrous material-such as raw cotton, forexampleand is then spread upon the plates B in layers 0, the thicknessof which relatively to the thickness of the metal plates may be about asshown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings; but the proportion may of coursebe varied. The fibers, by reason of their mixture with the oxide or itsequivalent, become virtually conductors throughout the entire layer ofthe oxide, whereby it will be evident that a largelyincreased surface ofthe oxide is presented to the action of the charging-current and greatersurface is afforded for the accumulation or deposit of what may betermed the energy of the charging-current. Not only does the fiber actin the highly-beneficial manner indicated, but it enables a secondarybattery of large capacity to be produced without too great weigh t, andit also acts to bind together the mass oomposing the active porousmaterial, and also to make it cling or adhere to the plate,which areimportant features.

The positive and negative series of plates, (respectively marked b and bwith their oxide or its equivalent, each constitute a compound batteryplate or element, and are separated by a porous partition or plate, D,to constitute a resistance medium or, in place thereof, a layer of felt,E, or some equivalent thereof, may be interposed between one side ofeach plate B of the compound positive and negative electrodes and theirlayers of oxide or oxide and fiber, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2.Through each mass making up the positive and negative electrodes orelements we insert a non-conducting tube, F, which may be of glass orhard rubber, or in place of the tube non-conducting strips may be usedto separate each mass, the object of which is to carry off or givecomparatively-free vent or escape to the surplus gases generated in thebattery by the action of the charging-current, which gases, if notremoved, prevent the ready accumulation of the energy of the saidcurrent.

At the lower end of the vessel A, above its bottom, is inserted aperforated plate or frame, F, which constitutes a partition or floorupon which the interior parts of the battery rest. 'A space, f, is thusformed between said floor and the bottom of the vessel for a portion ofthe electrolytic fluid of the battery and for the free collection andupward escape of the gases unopposed by solid matter, and a like space,f, is formed at the top of the battery between the conducting-plates andoxide and the cover of the battery for a similar purpose. The spaces ortubes F afford free communication between the'top and bottom spaces, ff, of the battery, and the gases from below thus readily escape upwardthrough the liquid of v the battery, and the surplus thereof thuscollect in the top space and escape through a valve-opening, g, in thelid or cover when the valve G is raised from its seat or opened. Saidvalve G is automatically operated by the action of the charging-current,said current opening the valve to permit of the escape of the surplusgases which are generated during the charging of the battery, while thevalve is antomatically closed when the charging-current is cut off orceases to flow to the battery. The charging-current flows from thegenerator to the battery through a line-wire, 1, which passes around asoft-iron core mounted on the top of the battery-cover to form anelectro-magnet, H, and is then connected to abinding-screw,1. Saidbinding-screw is electrically connected with the series of platesconstitutingthe compound positive electrode or element of thestorage-battery. Thecharging-currentthuspasses through the positive andnegative plates and their layers (J of oxide and fiber, or itsequivalent, and through the electrolytic fluid or a portion thereof, andcauses the chemical action which results in the storage or accumulationof energy by converting the positive pole or electrode into an oxygenelement, and the negative pole or electrode into-a hydrogen element, andsaid current then returns to the generator by way of wire 2.

It is evident that as soon as the chargingcurrent begins to flow to thestorage-battery the armature J of the electro-magnet H will be attractedand the valve G opened by means of the pivoted beam j, while as soon asthe current is cut off the valve will be automatically closed by itsweight, which is greater than that of the armature J. If desired, aspring may aid in the retraction of the armature in a common-manner toreturn the valve to its seat to close the vent-opening g. .As' soon asthe battery is sufiiciently charged the connection with the generator iscut off.

When it is desired to generate a current of electricity by thestorage-battery its electrodes are connected by a conductor..

We have shown the working-circuit connec tions 3 4 of the battery asincluding a governor or regulator, K; but inasmuch as the organizationof 'said governor constitutes no part of the inventioninclnded in thisdivision of our application of December31, 1881, and may be dispensedwith, we deem it unnecessary to describe it in detail. g i.

We are aware that the porous active material applied to the plates ofsecondary batteries has been made up of oxide of leader its equivalent,mixed with an inert substance,"

such as pulverized coke or sawdust; but such inert substance does nothave a binding action upon the mass like that of the 'fiber or filamentsused by us.

We claim as our invention-.-

1. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of a closedbattery-vessel containing electrodes or elements, a valve closing anopening in said vessel, an electro-magnet to control said valve, and anelectric circuit, substantially as described, including said electrodesand said magnet, whereby during the time the battery is giving of gasthe said valve will be automatically opened to permit of its escape andat other times will be closed.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of anair-tight secondary-bat tery vessel, electrodes contained in saidvessel, a valve closing a valve-opening in said vessel, anelectro-magnet mounted on said vessel to control said valve, and a linein which said electro-magnet is situated by whichthe charging-current isconducted to said battery, whereby while the charging-current is passingto the battery the valve will be raised to permit the escape of surplusgases generated in the battery by said current, and when thechargingcurrent is cut ofi' said valve will be closed.

3. An element or electrode for secondary batteries, consisting of asupport or plate with a layer of porous active material appliedtherefilaments, substantially as described.

5. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, in asecondary battery, of the battery-vessel, the positive and negativeelectrodes thereof, each electrode consisting of a series of platescoated with porous material to .be acted upon by the charging-current,and

each electrode being provided with a space extending through it for thefree escape of the surplus gases, and the porous partition separatingsaid electrodes.

6. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, in asecondary battery, of the closed battery-vessel having a valve-openingat its top for the escape of the surplus gases generated in charging thebattery, the perforated partition forming a space at the bottom of thebattery, the electrodes of said battery supported by said partition, andterminating below the top of the battery-vessel to form a space thereat,and tubes or openings affording free communication between said spacesat the top and bottom of the battery.

7. The combination, substantially as herein before set forth, in asecondary battery, of the battery-vessel, the electrodes of the batteryterminating at top, so as to leave a space for the collection ofthesurplus gases generated in the battery, and vertical tubes or spacesextending through the electrodes to facilitate the collection of thegases in the space at the top of the battery.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names this 19th dayof July, A. D. 1882.

ELI T. STARR. E. EUGENE STARR.

Witnesses:

WM. J. PEYTON, JAMES YOUNG.

